In Singapore, specially in that area around the Heng Mui Keng Terrance it is not unusual to walk past several international organizations and think tanks within just a few blocks. There are APEC, the Asia Europe Foundation, ISEAS, WIPO, and of course the Pacific Economic Cooperation Council (PECC). For a young graduate student interested in economic development, cooperation and trade, that ecosystem feels like stepping into the heart of regional policy dialogue and as one may say, where things happen. In 2013, during my Master in Public Policy at the Lee Kuan Yew School of Public Policy at the National University of Singapore (NUS), I had the opportunity to experience that world firsthand through an internship with PECC. As part of the MPP program, students were required to complete a...